The 89-year-old casts his ballot at a polling booth in Harare, and says he is
"sure that people will vote freely and fairly" amid accusations his Zanu-PF
party is trying to impede voting by supporters of the Movement For
Democratic Change (MDC).

1:42PM BST 31 Jul 2013

Asked about accusations by Morgan Tsvangirai's MDC party of vote-rigging, Robert Mugabe said as he cast his vote: "That's politicking, they want to find a way out."

"I am sure people will vote freely and fairly, there is no pressure being exerted on anyone."

The MDC has alleged that election officials biased towards Mr Mugabe's Zanu PF will embark on a "go-slow" at polling stations in urban areas where the concentration of their supporters is high.

89-year-old Mr Mugabe, who is fighting his seventh election since Zimbabwe won independence from Britain in 1980, proudly showed The Telegraph's Aislinn Laing one of his fingers which was stained with fluorescent pink ink, used by election officials to mark those who have cast their ballots.